Ethnically-based rejection sensitivity and academic achievement: The danger of retracting into one’s heritage culture

This study examined the relation between ethnically based rejection sensitivity and academic achievement in a sample of 936 immigrant students in Germany and Switzerland. The theory of race-based rejection sensitivity that originated in North America was extended to immigrant students in Europe. The rough political climate against immigrants in Europe makes it probable that immigrant youth face particular difficulties and are affected by ethnically based rejection sensitivity, at least as much as—or even more than—minority youth in the United States. Using a standardized literacy performance test and multilevel analyses, we found that ethnically based rejection sensitivity was negatively related to academic achievement for immigrant students. This relation was partially mediated by a strong contingency of the students' self-worth on the heritage culture, as well as by a low number of native German or Swiss majority-group friends. We interpret these processes as immigrant students' efforts to cope with ethnically based rejection sensitivity by retracting into their heritage culture and avoiding majority-group contact, which unfortunately, however, at the same time also results in lower academic achievement. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Early adolescents’ enjoyment experienced in learning situations at school and its relation to student achievement

While many studies confirm that positive emotions, including enjoyment, lead to better student achievement, less empirical evidence exists about possible mediator variables that link achievement to enjoyment. It is proposed that achievement and enjoyment form a circular dependency; enjoyment in learning leads to higher achievement but a degree of achievement is required to enjoy learning. This study provides insight into the reverse of the much studied enjoyment to achievement link and provides practical recommendations on how to use these findings. Founded in Control-value theory, which suggests that control and value cognitions are important variables that mediate the connection between enjoyment and achievement, this study explores the reciprocal achievement-cognition-enjoyment link. The reciprocal link was investigated by applying a one year longitudinal design to students of grade 6 and 7 (N = 356). This age group was chosen because early adolescence represents a critical period during which a strong decrease in positive learning emotions is observed. Part of the work involved identifying factors that might be responsible for this negative development. Results of cross-lagged path analysis identified reciprocal effects between student achievement and enjoyment with control and value cognitions functioning as partial mediators. High achievement goes with high control and value cognitions, which in turn positively affect enjoyment. However, cross-lagged correlations could only be partly confirmed. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications

Social Support at the Workplace, Motivation to Transfer, and Training Transfer: A Multi-Level Indirect Effects Model

Supervisor support, peer support and transfer motivation have been identified as important predictors for training transfer. Transfer motivation is supposed to mediate the support–training transfer relationship. Especially after team training interventions that include all team members (i.e., intact-team training), individual perception of these factors might be shared among team members. However, an integration of the team level in the training transfer process is rare, yet still needed. Analyzing 194 employees from 34 teams in the context of intact-team training interventions, we found similar relationships and processes at both levels of analysis: Social support enhances transfer motivation at the individual and team levels. Furthermore, motivation to transfer increases training transfer and serves as a connecting mechanism in the social support–training transfer link. The results underline the importance of (1) considering multiple levels in theories and research about the training transfer process and (2) ensuring the practice of individual-directed support and a shared, supportive climate within teams.

Befinden und Motivation im Sport – Das Resultat einer Motiv-Sportziel-Passung

Um Befinden und Motivation im Sport vorherzusagen, wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit eine Motiv-Ziel-Passungsannahme geprüft. Zwei Studien testen die Hypothese, dass das Verfolgen sportbezogener Ziele, die zu den impliziten Motiven (Leistungs- und Anschlussmotiv) der Sporttreibenden passen, zu positivem Befinden im Sport und hoher geplanter Sportaktivität führt, während das Verfolgen motivinkongruenter Ziele beeinträchtigend wirkt. Eine erste korrelative Studie (N = 67) bestätigt die Hypothese für die Vorhersage des positiven Befindens während des Sporttreibens in einer Stichprobe bestehend aus Sportstudierenden, die selbstgesetzte Ziele verfolgen. In einer zweiten Studie (N = 67) werden motivkongruente und motivinkongruente TrainerInnen-Ziele experimentell induziert. Die Motiv-Ziel-Interaktionen sagen auch hier das Befinden und zusätzlich die intendierte zukünftige Sportaktivität vorher. Der theoretische Erkenntnisgewinn dieser Studien besteht darin, dass fremdgesetzte TrainerInnen-Ziele sehr ähnlich wirken wie selbstgesetzte Ziele. Die praktischen Implikationen beinhalten Zielimaginationsübungen, die die Wahl motivpassender Sportziele erleichtern sollen.

The AEgIS experiment at CERN for the measurement of antihydrogen gravity acceleration

The Antihydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEgIS) experiment is conducted by an international collaboration based at CERN whose aim is to perform the first direct measurement of the gravitational acceleration of antihydrogen in the local field of the Earth, with Δg/g = 1% precision as a first achievement. The idea is to produce cold (100 mK) antihydrogen ( ¯H) through a pulsed charge exchange reaction by overlapping clouds of antiprotons, from the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) and positronium atoms inside a Penning trap. The antihydrogen has to be produced in an excited Rydberg state to be subsequently accelerated to form a beam. The deflection of the antihydrogen beam can then be measured by using a moir´e deflectometer coupled to a position sensitive detector to register the impact point of the anti-atoms through the vertex reconstruction of their annihilation products. After being approved in late 2008, AEgIS started taking data in a commissioning phase in 2012. This paper presents an outline of the experiment with a brief overview of its physics motivation and of the state-of-the-art of the g measurement on antimatter. Particular attention is given to the current status of the emulsion-based position detector needed to measure the ¯H sag in AEgIS.

Public service motivation and rational choice modeling

While most previous research has considered public service motivation (PSM) as the only motivational factor predicting (public) job choice, the authors present a novel, rational choice-based model which includes three motivational dimensions: extrinsic, enjoyment-based intrinsic and prosocial intrinsic. Besides providing more accurate person-job fit predictions, this new approach fills a significant research gap and facilitates future theory building.

How quota-based procedures affect the self-ascribed fit and motivation of European women and men striving for leadership positions

The consequences of quota-based hiring policies on women’s and men’s self-ascribed fit and motivation to apply for leadership positions were investigated in the European context. 389 management students (195 women, 194 men) from Switzerland, Germany, and Austria received job advertisements varying in their gender policies. Interestingly, women’s and men’s self-ascribed fit and motivation to apply did not differ when no policy was included. Instead, participant’s agency was the relevant predictor leading to higher perceived fit, resulting in higher inclination to apply. When women were either explicitly invited to apply or preferentially treated when equally qualified, they reported higher fit and inclination to apply compared to both the control condition and men. In contrast, when a quota of 40% women should be established, neither women’s fit nor motivation to apply were increased beyond the levels of the control or men’s. Men were not affected by the different policies.

Expected impact of applying new 2013 AHA/ACC cholesterol guidelines criteria on the recommended lipid target achievement after acute coronary syndromes.

BACKGROUND 2013 AHA/ACC guidelines on the treatment of cholesterol advised to tailor high-intensity statin after ACS, while previous ATP-III recommended titration of statin to reach low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) targets. We simulated the impact of this change of paradigm on the achievement of recommended targets. METHODS Among a prospective cohort study of consecutive patients hospitalized for ACS from 2009 to 2012 at four Swiss university hospitals, we analyzed 1602 patients who survived one year after recruitment. Targets based on the previous guidelines approach was defined as (1) achievement of LDL-C target < 1.8 mmol/l, (2) reduction of LDL-C ≥ 50% or (3) intensification of statin in patients who did not reach LDL-C targets. Targets based on the 2013 AHA/ACC guidelines approach was defined as the maximization of statin therapy at high-intensity in patients aged ≤75 years and moderate- or high-intensity statin in patients >75 years. RESULTS 1578 (99%) patients were prescribed statin at discharge, with 1120 (70%) at high-intensity. 1507 patients (94%) reported taking statin at one year, with 909 (57%) at high-intensity. Among 482 patients discharged with sub-maximal statin, intensification of statin was only observed in 109 patients (23%). 773 (47%) patients reached the previous LDL-C targets, while 1014 (63%) reached the 2013 AHA/ACC guidelines targetsone year after ACS (p value < 0.001). CONCLUSION The application of the new 2013 AHA/ACC guidelines criteria would substantially increase the proportion of patients achieving recommended lipid targets one year after ACS. Clinical trial number, NCT01075868.

The Social Geography of Education: Neighborhood, Class Composition, and the Educational Achievement of Elementary School Students in Zurich, Switzerland

Despite an impressive amount of research and policy intervention no robust pattern of neighborhood effects on educational attainment has previously been identified. Adequate theoretical modeling and the sensitivity of the results to the method of the study are the major challenges in this area of research. This paper elaborates the social mechanisms of neighborhood effects and applies various methodological approaches to test them. Using data from Switzerland, the research reported here has detected heterogeneous effects of neighborhood on elementary school students’ educational achievement in Zurich. Although modest in comparison with the effects of classroom composition, these effects appear to be mediated primarily through social integration into a local peer network and are differentiated according to students’ gender and their social origin.

Latent profiles of work motivation in adolescents in relation to work expectations, goal engagement, and changes in work experiences

Motivation plays a key role in successful entry into working life. Based on a cross-sectional and a one-year longitudinal study, we used a person-centered approach to explore work-related motivation (i.e., autonomous goals, positive affect, and occupational self-efficacy) among 577 students in 8th grade (Study 1) and 949 adolescents in vocational training (Study 2). Based on latent profile analysis, in both studies we identified four groups that were characterized by different levels of overall motivation and one group characterized by low positive affect and mean levels in autonomous goals and self-efficacy. Profiles characterized by high levels of motivation showed the highest levels of positive work expectations and goal engagement and the lowest levels of negative work expectations in Study 1 and the highest levels of person-job fit, work engagement, and job satisfaction in Study 2. Moreover, latent difference score analysis showed that motivational profiles predicted changes in person-job fit and work engagement across one year but not in job satisfaction. The results imply that career counselors should be aware of characteristic motivational patterns of clients that may require specific counseling approaches.

Chance Events and Career Decidedness: Latent Profiles in Relation to Work Motivation

Research has shown that chance events affect careers but has not established the nature of their effects. Moreover, the relationship between chance and career decidedness is not well understood. The present study used a person-centered approach with latent profile analysis to examine 312 Swiss adolescents in their first year of vocational training. We identified five qualitatively differing profiles according to levels of perceived chance events and career decidedness: balanced scorers, undecided with mean chance, undecided with high chance, decided with chance, and decided without chance. The groups differed significantly in work motivation (i.e., occupational self-efficacy beliefs, perceived person-job fit, and work engagement). Decided adolescents reported more favorable work motivation regardless of their level of perceived chance events. The results imply that promoting decidedness remains a valuable goal in career counseling despite the occurrence of unpredicted events.